FORT WORTH — Carol Mulkay is representing Fort Worth's Chadwick Farms neighborhood in its efforts to deny approval for three additional high-impact natural gas wells in the neighborhood.

"People are frightened," she said. "People are threatening to sell their homes and leave if the wells go in.‪" 

The neighborhood currently has three high-impact wells. If the new wells are approved by Fort Worth City Council, the closest would be about 300 feet from homes.

"Seven wells I find intolerable," Mulkay said.

Mulkay and other residents who attended Tuesday's Fort Worth City Council meeting are concerned about effects on the environment. They say their fears were underscored by the recent discovery of what state investigators call "surprising' levels of benzene near some natural gas facilities in the Barnett Shale.

Long-term exposure to benzene can cause leukemia.